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Sport
Sport in Sylvatir ranges from professional competitions to casual meets. While there are six major sports that constitute the main athletics of the country, most major professional teams folded following the fall of King Rodric and the rise of the Elyde Senate and the Rorgh Clans. Archery Archery has been celebrated as a hunting skill and a sporting skill since ancient times. In contemporary Iquai, archery is typically no longer a skill required for sustenance and is common only in demonstration sport. Archery skills can be tested in one half of the annual winter Marksman Competition in Tezef, which gathers competitors from across Iquai to prove their talents and settle the age old question of who possesses the steadiest arm and sharpest eye. Archers typically compete on standard bullseyes which feature a small circle in the centre surrounded by increasingly large rings. Boxing Professional pugilism is a favoured pastime of the dwarves, and its popularity has spread to humans over time. While it is doubtless that orcs, too, would enjoy the sport, the few attempts to engage them in it have backfired as the nomadic races have experienced significant difficulty ceasing their blows before their opponent is dead. A booming boxing industry is featured in Marblebrook. The Professional Boxing Circuit (PBC), headquartered in said town, regulates prize pools, matches, and marketing within Iquai. Running Running in Iquai is a minor sport that has few, but very dedicated, adherents. Runners hold regular competitions in or between various cities to determine fastest runners, though intra-city runs have decreased in frequency owing to the increase in orcish presence across the country. Sailing Sailing competitions are held annually on the Sage's River. Sailors compete in heats to make the fastest time from Tezef to the mouth of the sea just beyond Siraj. While companies occasionally enter crafts -- the Westmonte Shipping Company often enters crafts to demonstrate the speed of their deliveries -- sailing is typically seen as an individual endeavour. The record for fastest time was set by Marius Grelleth in 7294 (2 days, 14 hours, and 23 minutes). Strikeball While often seen as a commoner's game, the intense popularity of strikeball has led to professional teams popping up in various cities in Iquai. Strikeball is played with a ball and peg. The peg is struck into the ground vertically. Teams score points by striking the peg with the ball, which can only be touched with the feet. Strikeball teams consist of three strikers, who kick the ball at the peg, and a ringer, whose job is to block shots. The peg is surrounded by two rings at a distance of 10 feet and 15 feet respectively. These are the ringer creases. One ringer from each team stands in one of the rings and is allowed to any part of his or her body, including his or her hands, to block the ball from reaching the peg. A professional game is divided into quarters, and the ringers switch crease each quarter (the outer ring allows for the ringer to cut the angle on the shooter more, but requires the ringer to travel further to defend all sides of the peg; conversely, the inner ring limits the ringer's ability to cut shooter's angles but allows for the ringer to travel around the peg faster). No players other than the ringer may enter the 15-foot zone surrounding the peg. The ringers may not score and must always return the ball to the field of play. Trickshooting Trickshooting refers to tests of accuracy or speed performed with firearms. It is relatively recent in the history of Iquai. Trickshooting can be tested in one half of the annual winter Marksman Competition in Tezef, which gathers competitors from across Iquai to prove their talents and settle the age old question of who possesses the steadiest arm and sharpest eye. Trickshooters typically compete by firing at numerous small targets such as modified archery bullseyes, wooden animal cutouts, or cans.